George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center
321/867-2468
MISSION: CONTOUR (Comet Nucleus Tour)
LAUNCH VEHICLE: Delta II 7425
LAUNCH PAD: 17-A Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
LAUNCH DATE: July 1, 2002
LAUNCH WINDOW: 2:56:14 - 2:56:26 a.m. EDT

At SAEF-2, a five-day Contour Mission Simulation is under way using ground station facilities at the MILA tracking station at KSC to connect the spacecraft with the CONTOUR mission operations control center located at the Applied Physics Laboratory in Baltimore, Md. The mission operations team is following a compressed timeline that simulates the flight of CONTOUR, remotely commanding all of the spacecraft's systems and instruments.

The Deep Space Network compatibility test was completed on Friday, May 10 also using facilities located at the MILA tracking station at KSC. This test verifies CONTOUR's ability to communicate with the worldwide system of deep space tracking stations operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The spacecraft has also successfully completed the System Performance Test to verify that all spacecraft systems are functioning to their design capabilities.

The CONTOUR Mission Readiness Review is being held today at the Applied Physics Laboratory in Baltimore.

The Boeing Delta II launch vehicle second stage arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Monday, April 1. It continues to undergo checkout at Delta launch vehicle Hangar AO without any issues or concerns. The Delta first stage arrived at Cape Canaveral on April 15 and is at Hangar M.

At Space Launch Complex 17, erection of the Delta booster will begin on Tuesday, May 28. A pre-vehicle-on-stand (Pre-VOS) review is scheduled for May 21 at the Boeing facility in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The science window available to launch CONTOUR is July 1 - July 25.